Cheese-cutting device



Jan. 16, 1951 H. A. OLANDER 2,538,426

. CHEESE-CUTTING DEVICE Filed Jan. 14, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'uvsm'oa.Md 0.. MW

Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 19 Claims. 1

This invention relates to cutting devices and more particularly to asmall inexpensive device for cutting cheese and the like.

Various cheese cutting devices have heretofore been proposed which areeither too bulky and awkward to handle or so costly astoexceed thehousewifes budget. It is frequently desirable to purchase cheese in bulkform, such as a brick or loaf, at a considerable saving on the purchaseprice and also thereby to guarantee freshly cut cheese at all times. Y V

Thus it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a cuttingdevice for cheese and the like which is compact in construction, durableand simple in operation, and inexpensive to produce, thereby renderingit a practical and attractive device for home use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cutting device forcheese and the like whereby a loaf or brick of cheese may readily be cutinto a plurality of slices of uniform thickness.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description,accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention a holder is providedhaving a base with a pair of parallel, vertically extendin sides, a pairof guide members attached to the opposing faces of said sides and havinglike tortuous slots cut therein, and a pair of positioning'rodsangularly disposed between said sides and attached thereto. Eachtortuous slot comprises a'plurality of horizontal, parallel sectionsserially connected, and the uppermost andlowermost horizontal sectionsare connected by a vertical section. The spacing between the horizontalparallel sections is uniform, thus assuring slices of uniform thickness.Cooperating with the holder is a cutting instrument comprising awirelike blade tautly held between the ends of the arms of a U-shapedframe and stud-like. elements extending outwardly at the ends of saidarms for slidably engaging with the tortuous slots. The frame isslightly less in width than the spacing between the guide members, andits arms have a slight spring outwardly to give the desired tautness tothe blade. The frame may become disengaged from the tortuous slots rFig. 1 is a perspective view of the holder with the cutting instrumentin place and the loaf of cheese removed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the holder and cutting instrument takenalong line 2.2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of one half of the holder showingthe guide member attached to one'of the vertical sides;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the cutting instrument;

Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a modified form of holder andcuttinginstrument with the loaf of cheese removed;

Fig.- 6 is a top,plan view of the modified holder and cutting instrumentshown in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the modified cutting instrument shown inFigs. 5 and 6.

Referring now to the drawings, a holder I0 is provided having a base l2and a pair of parallel, vertically extending sides l4 and I5. Attachedto the inner faces l6 and I! of the sides i4 and I5, respectively, byriveting [8, or any other suitable means, are guide members 20 and 22havin like tortuous slots 24 and 26 cut therein. Each of the tortuousslots 24 and 26 comprises a plurality of horizontal parallel sections28, serially connected, and a vertical slot section 30 connecting theuppermost and lowermost horizontal sections. The spacing 31 between the-'horizontal parallel. sections 28 is uniform.

In the modified holder 32 shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a base 34 and twopairs of parallel, vertically extending sides 363l and 3839 areprovided. Attached to the inner face of sides 36-.3'l and till-+39 byriveting 40, or any other suitable means, are guide members 4243 and 44-45. Each pair of guide members 42-43 and 44..-45 has like tortuousslots 43 and 48 respectively cut therein similar to the tortuous slots24 and 26 described above. The spacing 50 between the horizontal,serially connected, parallel sections 52 of slot 46 is less than thespacing 54 between thehorizontal, serially connected, parallel sections56 of slot 48; thus depending on which pair of slots 46 or used, thickor thin slices may be cut.

Cooperating with the tortuous slots 24 and 26 is a cutting instrument58, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which will be described later.

Attached by crimping, or any other suitable means, tothe parallel sidesI 4 and [5 at their upper edge, and angularly disposed with referencethereto, are two parallel guide rods 60 and 62, as shown in Fig. 1. Theguide rods 60 and 62 have a twofold purpose, namely, to act as a stopfor the loaf when it is being sliced by the cutting instrument 58, andsecondly to hold the loaf of cheese, not shown, resting endwise on thebase [2 of the holder H3, in a slightly angularly disposed position withreference to sides l4 and 15 of holder It so that only the corner of thecheese loaf will be engaged by cutting instrument 58, at the beginningof its cutting stroke, thereby causing less resistance to be encounteredwhen the cutting instrument 58 is manipulated back and forth across theholder.

Cutting instrument 58, above mentioned, comprises a U-shaped handle orframe fi ifhlav'irig a grippable end 66 projecting rearwardlyfrom thebase 68 of said frame. A wire-likeblade' 10,

attached by welding or any othersuitable means to the ends 12 and 13 ofthe arms M and. .75 of the U-shaped frame 54, is tautly held thereby,becauseof the slight outward spring of said arms.

spaceasrighuy back from the ends lZ and 5'3 of frame 6Q andattachedtheretoare studs 1'5 and ve eratmemg outwardly in oppositedirections in substantially the same plane as the frame itself and whichslidably engage tortuous slots ZFalndZE respectively. "'I-o enable suchengagemen't of'thes'tud'slfiand is with tortuous slots 26 and it isfofcourse, necessary that tl re width of frame seemed be sflightly lessthan the spacing between guide members '26 and 2 2"Inlthei'rnodifiedcuttifigfinstriiment 89 shown in Figs." 5,6 aha'v, thename 6A is the same as that. described for cutting instrument In lacebftheTe-nd s rftil blade is; 611 cutting instrument being attached to:'th e ends l2 and fie b e .e bb isl bibbbl' f bbb i a other, als shown ii, the blade 32 of cutting nt ilfl is obliquely disposed with referbb'meistbi b wb ide s-bend mates to 'slayc'rie n a}: q; the blade 3 2 mtachedto the end l2jof the frame at a point v adiibbf b t nb ibt.abwbibb. he en ffi we 1 e s bab d. w e. m h e. n peat: b ie i y. p bnng. id b r j t e. eeds uely ibib he rument 8!} while the g late e Q'bbel teat m hejouter facesiof the loa'f are substantially parallel to'thesides of the holder, "he t s; bb h ear bszbd b t e same 9 lQ for eithercutting instrument 58 or 8B The timin instrumentT'SP or sa m' be c115 enged' fromtljiehhol fier IE! by pgsitioning the fr e figl sothat'thestud-like elements ZGfand e. caused to engage the vertical slotsection 392 nd. then by?turning the frame Jags. quarter.

afiirifcris about the grippable' end, a e a the x s. h s ud-.Lkelel'me'n w ll bec e. senagd from/the slots, "After the cuttinginstru 6r bslf hfifi ali in jbibnfi b is, when'thestud-like elementsfli and 75 areat the .bottomfof 'thevfertical slots ee and the loaf Qffcheese" as beenplaced upright on the base I2,v the; c tt ng instrument is manipulated.back and forth aciffcssjtheholder. i/Jith each ro g he.q t ngi pstrumeb,mqvbdpro r ssivelygupward'd ue to the stud-like elements slid ably'engaging'the. serially connected, horizontal,

parall l, -QUSBUCHi 1 uinentf ha sreti rned to]the'starting'pcsift16n'that is when the stud-lilie elements have 70 1. While'the loaf.oflcheese isbeing cut, the slices 4 reached the bottom of the verticalslot again' the uncut loaf of cheese is lifted off and the slicesremoved.

As seen in Fig. 5, the vertical sides 35, 3?, 38, 5 and 39 are shorterin length than the spacing between the arms Hi and E5 of cuttinginstrument 8% Thus either pair of sides 3B-31 or lit-39 may be used,depending on the thickness of the slices desired.

It w l. be by bu at. cer ai ebeiec of the specific embodiments shown maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.For example, guide members 20 and 22 attached to the vertical sides Mand l5 v of. holder LE3, as shown in Fig. 1, may be of a removable typeand replaceable by another pair of. guide members having a greaternumber of horizontal parallel sections and a variance in spacing betweenthe horizontal serially connected b i pb 9. a 2 2 921 hick r r thinnerslices b eb From the foregoing; tw ll b eadil seentbet a i htwe ht imp eb mbed... nd, nexpensiv t i g. de e. f r che e a d he. ike ha en. fb whch will ut. h a t r the. rstbl be ,..e m, bni. br thi kn s.

.w i b bvera mbqsiimgn bi hisinventiqna e. escr bed. abqve, wi l. ebndbbQd, of ours hat n entneism tqbe. lmil d th ret since many modificationsmay be .made, and it sbgntemrz e ed herefore. was p e ded aims to cb brn .1 91 m ba i asfaliwi hinme st; pir and, sqbbeq th sicrem naim;

1, in adevice of the ,class above. described, the.

combination of a holder comprising;abase apair of parallel, vertically,extending sides, a pair-of si' db me be bi ebb d t said's des, Saidide... membbrshev n 1k egbs lotscbt t ere n tt ng nstrum nt compr sin aframe e a able with said slots and a thin elongated blade. ebtlyb ebvaid. fla e. 1 Inadeviqe. .ofthe cla above e c ibedth combination of aholder comgif 'ngabase, apair, i. el e ,.vebbieall extend ng sides ra nof el memb sabtaqbbd to the diabbnb ac sot.

a side t ai a db. members g. a.

llibllb lQ- .cbbtherb and. a pa r. o P 11 03?" 9% m ab ile lr. iebos btween, aid

' an ,abtabhedheme. and. a-fllli'e em bm 'ris ne h n: lo ga ed.

bla ahe dlb br' fb a a e mmov tweeni s meebbrebbd abbirb tb ke al aimomaid-handlebm,

i h-Said br bbu blbts.

.ajdevice of the class above described the, bm i a Ii-b a bl r; bem rsibeabesabir-- b l brtibally. x ndin sides, aba r' o v d ,to 'theadjacent faceofisaid gul e m bershaving -liketora tgou s o s cutthere n,a pa f parallelposition rig mb r a gbl rl lspbsebl. bet en aid. p rglbl. deaand." liaiihf i ereta, a da uttinginstrument comprising a handleadaptedto b a d. ldemem erb wire-like lad tacitly.- bldr nsa hen il.anc1.,.a. pair. o b. .b. e ten in .outwar y r msa d. heb l b. and. liablv, ngag ng. aid rt bb s ots...

1 diev qbb the ne. bbv b b c .thev bmbina iqnbi.abbls br. m in -aba apair. of parallel, vertically extending sides, a pair: of para l Q$. i9lg. l 9?I ab lbr y RQ$ between said parallel sides andattached thereto,and wait. ebidb ebxbbbebbtaqh d o. t e. a J'acent' faces ofsaidslides,said guide-members havin cbrrespondin tortuous slots out therein,

each of said slots comprising a plurality of ,horizontal, seriallyconnected, parallel sections, spaced uniformly apart, and a cuttinginstrument comprising a thin elongated blade, a handle therefor adaptedto move between said guide members,

and laterally projecting studs on said handle and between said parallelsides and attached thereto,

anda pair of guide members attached to the adjacent faces of said sides,said guide members having corresponding tortuous slots cut therein, anda cutting instrument comprising a handle having spaced arms adapted ,tomove between said guide members, a wire-like blade tautly held betweenthe ends of the arms of said handle,'and a pair'of stud-like elementsextending outwardly from the ends of said arms and adapted to slidablyengage said tortuous slots.

' 6. In a device of the class above described the combination of aholder comprising a base, a pair of parallel, vertically extendingsides, apair of parallel positioning members angularly disposed'betweensaid parallel sides and attached thereto, and a pair of guide membersattached to the adjacent faces of said sides, said guide members havingcorresponding tortuous slots cut therein, each of said slots comprisin aplurality V of horizontal, serially connected, parallel sections spaceduniformly apart and a vertical section joining the upper and lowerparallel section together, a cutting instrument comprising a thinelongated blade, a handle therefor adapted to move betweensaid guidemembers and a pair of stud-like elements extending outwardly fromsaidhandle and cooperating with said tortuous slots. r

7. In a device of the class above described the combination of a holdercomprising a base, a pair of parallel, vertically extending sides, apair of parallel positioning members angularly disposed between saidparallel sides and attached thereto, and a pair of guide membersattached to the adjacent faces oflsaid sides, said guide members havingcorresponding tortuous slots cut therein,

, each of said slots comprising a plurality of horizontal, seriallyconnected, parallel sections spaced uniformly apart and a verticalsection joining the uppermost and lowermost parallel sections together,a cutting instrument comprising a thin elongated blade, a handletherefor adapted to move between said guide members, and studs extendingoutwardly from said handle and slidably engaging said tortuous slots,said instru-' ment, when said studs are positioned in said verticalsections of said slots, being adapted to be rotated to disengage saidstuds from said slots.

8. In a device of the class above described, the combination of aholderfor a sliceable object comprising a base, two pairs of parallel,vertically extending sides having guide means atthereto.

extending sides having guide means attached: thereto, each pair ofopposing guide means, hav-- ing like tortuous slots cut therein, each ofsaid slots comprising a plurality of horizontal, serially connected,parallel sections spaced uniformly apart,- and a cutting instrumentcomprising a substantially U-shaped frame engageable with either pair ofopposing slots and a thin elongated blade angularly disposed withreference to said frame and attached thereto.

10. In a device of the class above described, the'.

combination of a holder comprising a base, two pairs of parallelvertically extending sides having guide means attached thereto, eachpair of opposing guide means having like tortuous slots there-' in, eachof saidslots comprising a plurality of horizontal, serially connected,parallel sections of opposing guide means having like tortuous slotstherein, each of said slots comprising a plurality of horizontal,serially connected, parallel sections spaced uniformly apart, thespacing between said parallel sections of the slots of the two pairs ofsides being different, and a cutting instrument comprising a handleadapted to move between said pair of guide means, a pair of studlikeelements extending outwardly from said handle and cooperating with saidpair of tortuous slots, and a thin elongated blade angularly'disposedwith reference to said handleand attached '12. In a device of the classabove described, the combination of a holder comprising a base, twopairs of parallel vertically extendingsides having guide means attachedthereto, each pair of opposing guide means having like tortuous slotscut therein, each of said slots comprising a plurality of horizontal,serially connected, parallel sections spaced uniformly apart, and avertical section joining the uppermost and lowermost parallel sectionstogether, the spacing between said serially connected parallel sectionstached thereto, each pair of opposing guide 9. In a device of the classabove described, the

combination of a holder for a sliceable object comprising a base, twopairs of parallel vertically of the slots of the two pairs of sidesbeing different, and a cutting instrument comprising a U-shaped handleadapted to move between said pair of guide means, a pair of stud-likeelements extending outwardly from arms of said handle and adapted toslidably engage with either of said'pairs of tortuous slots, and a thinelongated blade tautly held between said arms and angularly disposedwith reference thereto.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a holder fora sliceable object, comprising ,a base and a pair of parallel verticallyextending sides having a tortuous slot formed ,in but not extendingthrough each of said sides,

instrument: cemprising a thin elnngatedr blade.- and' a. slidablefirame. therefor disengageahly mounted: Within. said; slots: 7

151 In adeviceof the. class: described, mammbination of ahelder for asliceahle qbjeetq omprising a base, a pair of parallel. vertically .e.X:tending sides, guide. members, mounted. 0. the opposing surfaces: ofsaid. sides, each t said guide members. having a tortuous slot termedtherein, and a cutting instrument. adap d; 2 move. between said guidemembers, comprising a. thin elongated blade; and a frame therefer" beingslidably engageahle insaidslots.

I6. Ima device. of the class, described, th om-.- bination. of: a.holder for. a. slicealolev 11 38 12.. 99 prising a. base, a. pair ofparallel, vertically extending sides, guide. members detachablymQllntredcbn the opposing. surfzaees Qf said. sides, sash of said guide.members having, a tQrtuDus slat term-ed .therein, said slat comprising;a. plurality of serially connected, elon ated. 566 11935. pa allel to,said base. andspaqed unifqrmly apart, the. uppermost and lowermostelongated, seetign being joined by a connecting; SeQtiQn, and; 8.1.-fillitin instrument. acianted. to. meve between sa guide members,eomprising a thin. el nga ed. blade and a. frame. therefor beingslidabl-y n: gageahlezin said. slots.

11.. In 2;.dQS/iC-18i0f' the. class described,, the, creme bination. ota. holder for a. slieeable. qbieat... com-. prising a. base and; a pairoi parallel. vertically extending sides; having tortuous. slotsof like.con.- figuratien. formed; therein. but. not extending. therethmugh,.said slots comprising a plurality oi serially .cqnnected,. elongated.sections parallel. to; said; base and. having. the uppermost. ancilowermost.- eloangated section. mined by a can,- necztingseetion, and a.cutting; instrument; 0.0m; rising a thinemngateci blade.- and. a. frame.there? 03: being sliclably .engaeeable. in said slats nd detachabletherefrom upon twisting t said 8;. frame when; pesitiqned aid;eonnectina tiQn..

L8,. In a. dense of. the class.- descr ei. the 69. 1..- binaiionot a hlder Q1: a s ipeahl epi et. 0 2m:

. prisinaa base; a. nair- Q narellel; vertically exnine s at q der. fe aicetitle v recti i ear,

. 9. .1 ohie t. cpmpris na aba eta ei 9f. narallei ve iieally ext ndinsid s, a d u de mem ers d iaehablr unt dw an the pnns ns s o sa d ides.ach. o ai u d m me e Wine. a ior ueus slqtaf ik qnfieuret q ria e.therein; cut n nst ument dapted to move between x. 11-191? m mbe s QQmri aim- 2 elon e le een me er fo i deb szn a n d o s; a d: a p ir ofsewed lense ssi el ent m nt d b i u ly a d side nd e t n g. W0 and abovesaid. b e fqr retaining said abject in a relatively fixed poe sit-ionwhile being sliced by said instrument.

H ROLD A- QL NDEa- LtE-EERENGES, GICEED tollqwing references are. ofrecord. in the.

file. of this. patent;

UNITED STATES PA'I-ENTS' Number Name 7 {Date 865,447 Stewart" 'I: T" TT-1 ,105,257 Lockett Mar. 12, 192-9- l,7.5l, 264 Cross .et. a1. Mar. 13,1930 1,796,212 Nadeo Q Mar. 10, 13,31

